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Topic: BOb and Joyce Chat (Read 1871 times)

Reality People Talk Ė Bob and Joyce of The Amazing RaceElites TV talked with Amazing Race 5's Bob and Joyce after their elimination from the show. The team tells of how they met on the Internet, what they learned about each other during the race, and why they're the show's true winners.

Elites TV: Your loss last night seemed so unfair; it was a ticketing error, not your fault, right?

Joyce: Yes, thatís exactly what it was

Bob: Did you cry?

Elites TV: No, but the caviar scene made me gag!

Joyce: The caviar scene made me cry!

Elites TV: Tell us what happened at the airport?

Bob: We couldnít get a good flight. We got a good flight going from Buenos Aires into Madrid, but then they reserved us tickets on an Air France flight from Madrid to St. Petersburg. We went to get the tickets and we found out that they were business class, not economy. We couldnít fly with those tickets and had to take a later flight.

Joyce: We tried to get Air France to switch us to an economy class ticket, because thatís the rules of the game, but Air France just would not give them to us. They wouldnít work with us. It was so disappointing.

Elites TV: It seems so unfair that many of the losses come down to screw-ups by the airlines and arenít actually based on your skills. But I guess thatís the point of the game.

Joyce: It makes it unpredictable and exciting. As you can see with most of the eliminated teams, thatís what it comes down to.

Elites TV: How does it work at the airport? Do you pay for the flights in cash?

Joyce: We have a credit card to use with the airlines. So you just give them the credit card and itís paid for. The cash that weíre allocated is for taxis, busses and any other incidentals that we would require along the way. We have no other money with us, and if we run out of money, weíre done.

Elites TV: When did you come closest to running out of money?

Bob: In Russia, we were down to our last few bucks. We had to pay a lot to get a cab from the airport.

Joyce: You really have to bicker with these guys to let you take taxis and buses at a reasonable rate, because like any tourist, theyíll try overcharge you. So you have to be firm, because if you spend all your money, youíre out.

Elites TV: Thatís interesting because the show doesnít focus so much on negotiating skills. I thought the show had hired cabs, because it seems like theyíre always there.

Joyce: After walking the dogs in Buenos Aires, I literally had to go into the middle of the street and stop traffic to get a taxi to take us to the Hacienda, because we know we were behind at that point and had to makeup time. Itís amazing what youíll do when you know that your life depends on it, so to speak.

Elites TV: When did you push your self the hardest?

Bob: Good question. We were confident that we could complete everything, and we wanted to, it was fun. But the caviar-eating roadblock was the hardest for Joyce, Iím sure.

Joyce: I was so surprised, because I will literally eat everything. Nothing turns my stomach. And I love caviar, I can eat caviar no problem. But I canít eat two pounds of it!

Elites TV: I nearly threw-up during that scene. Just thinking of the consistency, and the eggs stuck in your teeth. Ugh!

Joyce: Its fatty, its disgusting. A little bit on a cracker is delicious, but it was just over 2 lbs of caviar.

Bob: It was $1000 worth of caviar.

Elites TV: Wow. Too bad you couldnít sell it and make more money for taxis and buses!

Joyce: We would basically do to get ahead and stay aliveógetting cabs, stopping people on the streets. But the caviar was something that stopped me dead. I was really taken aback by the grossness of it!

Elites TV: It seemed like there was a lot of fighting going on at the Bariloche bus station. Did you take sides and were you surprised?

Bob: Not really, we had seen some team building and team fighting earlier, and Joyce and I tried to stay above the fray in those situations. Weíd team with anybody for the short term, but we didnít want to make any long-term alliances. The situation in Bariloche happened pretty quickly, and all of a sudden we were on the wrong bus!

Joyce: Itís hard to control a situation where you have all these people at each others throats. Basically, you just try to stay alive during those times and make the right decision. But they are very unpredictable, and that what makes the show so interesting. Youíre always guessing whatís the right path to take.

Elites TV: Bob, I heard something about you hailing cabs in Russian? How did that go?

Bob: We bought a guidebook and it advised us that the way to get a cab in Russia was with your hand out and your palms down. Yeah, that didnít work to well. I was standing like that at the airport and a guy came up to me, and I though he had a cab, so I said: ďTaxi.Ē He looked at me and said ďNo thank you.Ē And Iím thinking, this is how far Iíve come. He thinks Iím a taxi driver in Russia!

Joyce: I could have shot Bob at that point, because we looked like idiots out there with our hands down. Nobody was stopping anyway! But Russia was great; we canít wait to go back. And the Russian people were just phenomenal.

Elites TV: You met via the Internet, but youíve lived in the same town for years, right?

Joyce: Bob lived there for 30 years; I had lived there for 14 years. We lived on opposite sides of the town. I was married for 25 years and Bob for 30 years. My husband died 10 years ago and I was busy raising my family and working, not having any time for social life. Finally my son, who is a computer software engineer, told me: ďMom, you need a social life. Go on the Internet and try to date.Ē I said no way, so he actually put up my profile on the Internet himself.

Elites TV: Which site?

Joyce: Match.com. I couldnít believe that I was getting hits, and lo and behold Bob responded to my profile.

Bob: I actually passed over her profile a few times, because her picture looked like she was more of a girlie girl, but then one day I actually read her profile and discovered that she was very active and loved the outdoors. I emailed her and weíve been together ever since.

Joyce: We have a second chance at this, and who really gets a second chance at life. We had wonderful marriages in our first life and now we have a second life, and itsí just amazing.

Elites TV: So you won by your own reasoning, right?

Joyce: A million dollars, you could spend that, but thatís all. But Bob and I have each other, and our relationship became even stronger throughout the trip. We know that we are compatible and that we can be life partners. And thatís winning!

Elites TV: Thatís great. Thanks for talking with Elites TV, and good luck!